Collingwood captain Darcy Moore has suffered another setback in a rotten season, going down with a hamstring injury in the first half against West Coast.
The premiership defender went down at a boundary throw-in as he curiously spent time in the ruck.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Darcy Moore suffers ‘another cruel blow’ after curious ruck play
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Saturday’s clash with the Eagles was just his fourth appearance of the season after missing time with a previous soft-tissue injuries and a concussion.
Moore’s latest injury was described as “another cruel blow” by Kath Loughnan on Fox Sports but David King quickly opened a line of questioning around Moore’s move into the ruck.
“I think it’ll be a story — should he be playing ruck?” he said.
“We haven’t seen him in the ruck — I can’t remember seeing him in the ruck for some time.”
Coaching great Mick Malthouse said he does not like to judge coaching moves “because I know what it’s like in the box” but argued Moore is not the player to be thrown around the ground.
“He is not equipped, coming off hamstrings and soft-tissue injuries, to be running around the ground in a different (ruck) role,” he said on the ABC.
“Because you need to explode to the next one, if it goes out of bounds on the other side you need to get there … he’s a victim of them not thinking through it.”
Moore last played a bit-part ruck role in 2017.
“As the great Denis Pagan always used to say, you don’t use a Ferrari to plough a field,” Cam Mooney said.
“Not sure why Darcy was in there so that’s going to be a talking point during the week.”
Goalkicking legend Jason Dunstall had predicted the potential for injury but talked down the link in the aftermath.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean it happened because he was in the ruck,” he said.
“It’s just unusual for a man that has struggled with injury. It’s a shame. It’s a shame for Darcy Moore.”
Collingwood took a slender 10-point lead over an improving West Coast side into the half-time break.
Record-breaker Scott Pendlebury had just two kicks and seven handballs in the opening two quarters as Nick Daicos led the way with 21 disposals, one goal and a goal assist.
